Glorious Bang
by FireyDrache
Summary: What happens when you change dramatically by unforeseen circumstances? B'Elanna and Seven are about to find out. It will be a journey of love. Some disasters will probably happen. How will our lovely ladies survive the changes? Read along for an interesting discovery of self. Longer summary and notes in Prologue. T/7 Community...Please write more fics. A revival is needed.
1. Prologue

TITLE: Glorious Bang

AUTHOR/S: FieryDrache

PAIRING: T/7 and other LGBTQ pairings throughout

RATING: T

BETA READING: I am interested in finding betas to help in the development of this piece. However, currently, this work does not have a beta.

FEEDBACK: Yes, I would enjoy hearing constructive criticism to help improve my writing and develop my style. Yet, I will not take to heart any homophobic attempts to disparage this wonder pairing.

DISCLAIMER: Star Trek and all the main characters are owned by Paramount Pictures/CBS Network Television, A Viacom/CBS Corporation. Star Trek: Voyager. Created by, Rick Berman, Michael Piller & Jeri Taylor, and is based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry. I am not making any profit from this story or any others based on these characters. I am just borrowing them for awhile.

WARNING: This is a piece of fiction, concerning an implied F/F relationship. If anyone objects to same sex relationships, you should not be reading this fan fiction. Maybe, you should read the Star Trek Range of Novels, or other heterosexual fanfiction. This piece will be respectful to different types of love.

SUMMERY: What happens when you change dramatically by unforeseen circumstances? B'Elanna and Seven are about to find out. It will be a journey of love. Some disasters will probably happen. How will our lovely ladies survive the changes from the mutations? Read along to see where the story leads. It should be an interesting journey of discovery. Also, many things in this story divert from canon. The pieces of canon that are used will be referenced throughout the work. Moreover, Chakotay is not in this story. Ro Laren was Captain of the Liberty.

NOTES: I am calling for an open challenge to anyone listening. Think about this pairing and write. I would love to read, beta or just comment on great T/7 fics. These ladies deserve a revival. Also, I send much love to the wonderful Voq_Je_Bang community. Thanks for inspiring me to write.

Glorious Bang

Prologue

The 29th Century had brought much glory to the Klingon Empire like the centuries before them. As one looked around the room, ages were hard to ascertain, and the question of who was the oldest in the room would be unanswerable from appearances alone. In fact, they would probably guess several hundred people before becoming close to the one in the crowd of thousands. This formal function rivaled one of the largest parties in the entire history of the Empire. The vastness of the space and the extensiveness of the guest list brought glory and honor to the trusted, loved, and feared Klingon House.

This was a day of celebration. A new heir had been born, and according to the Royal Family, it would be the last for the Empress and Lady of the House of Balth ghIq Bang je HubneS. The love between the two had spanned centuries and produced a multitude of heirs with adoption, birth, and the continuing generations of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. 5 generations of the House had thrived under the auspices and care of these two wonderfully fierce, brilliant, demanding women. Their legend would be sung in great operas, revisited over tables filled with bloodwine and boisterous soldiers, told to children in awe-inspiring fairytales, and blanketed around them in every laugh, smile and look of love between them.

Greatness had long ago arrived. A leap towards perfection and a finding of living, electrifying joy mixed with tides of sorrow had followed the couple on the raised dais. Sitting side by side with heirs to their right and left and the baby cradled on the Empress's shoulder, the Lady of the House of Balth ghIq Bang je HubneS raised her voice and began to sing an enchantingly lyrical song. As her voice grew in passion, devotion, and love, the Hall quieted to reverent silence. The lyrics of the song washing over all as the freshly composed piece took on the meaning of destiny as several figures appeared around the room. Bolts of electricity seemed to pulse up to ceiling and more energy beings arrived to redirect the energy safely into all the inhabitants in the room.

Finally, infant and Empress were being lifted to their feet by another set of beings. They widened the circle to include the wondrous Lady of the House. They pulsed their own powers with bursts of tremendous power and focus into the three contained in the circle. It could have been hallucinations bought on by the seemingly endless power, but Empress would swear later to have seen Kahless the Great. "Rise my child and lead my people to the donning of an even greater era. There are new galaxies to explore, love, battle, restore and conquer with honor. It is time. Qapla'!" Then, as if the figment was floating above the circling energy beings, he touched all three of their foreheads turning them into pure light and energy. The transformation complete, the song ended. The energy beings retreated to their own plane of light, and rested in anticipation of the donning of a new age.

Empress B'Elanna and Lady Seven knew that life once again had taken them to a glorious point of no return. At least, their life would continue to be a source of inspiration and glory for the Empire. 'Qapla! Indeed.' thought Lady Seven. She looked around to see dazed and awed faces. Lady Seven silently called to all her children and moved off the dais. Empress B'Elanna looked around and spoke.

"We have been called to battle by Kahless himself. With honor, we will fortify the Empire against the coming storm. Please excuse the Imperial Family for a time. Glory to the Empire." As she turned to follow her wife, her aides were getting the party back on track. Drinks flowed. More food was prepared and eaten, and a few challenges were issued and accepted. The fights went from sparring matches to full out combat. Holo-battles were raged in one section of the hall and the party continued for hours without word from the Imperial Family.

Then, a sound, marching in unison with grace, speed and love, the Empress and the Lady entered glowing as much if not more than before, and now, their entire family glowed as well. Something had fundamentally changed.


	2. Chapter 1: PetaQs and Storms

Disclaimer: Please read Prologue for all disclaimers.

Chapter I: PetaQs and Storms

Strike. Time lapsed. The pain begins the dance of convulsions. Lost in the flight of molecular dispersion, a new cell is born to deliver a blankness of being. Tingling, sizzling, rolling volts of electricity overwhelm the body again and again. One strike becomes 5. The plasma rips through the mocha skin to blend it and craft it into a new sculpture of unknown variety. The pool of liquefied metals attach to the forming sculpture of blood, bone, metal, muscles, and skin. Another bolt, then, another, electrifies the body as the pain rips further and further into the now scarred light caramel skin. Ripples of plasma run along the body and reaches the four ridges on the gravely pale face of the regally beautiful Klingon hybrid.

Memories entrench as the devastating and encompassing pain shifted through the Chief Engineer of Voyager, Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres. All sides of her body dissolved and evolved at an increasingly, deadly rate. Her life would be different from the 15 strikes so far. How many more bolts of lightning, electrified plasma, orderly chaos of matter, would evade her body and change its very nature? Did she even want to survive? So much pain and her thoughts were on a life half-lived. Were her engines enough? Would she face the shores of death on the Black Fleet or sail towards Gre'thor on the Barge of the Dead? Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam. Was today, really, a good day to face death and uncertainty? Embracing her Klingon heritage is far from a comforting thought as the pain seizes her into another convulsion.

Batlh. The Day of Honor was 3 weeks and 3 days ago. That day had also been a day close to death. Bang. Love. Had she ever really experienced it in full, and unequivocally, with another? Did she find her third heart? Would she ever know the love of Kahless's fame? Batlh Bang Hegh je. Death mixed with love and honor wrapped her mind to her undeniable reality. These moments of intense numbing, tingling, expanding wattages of shocks encased her mind as well as her body. The pool of metals shifted after every strike. Her chocolate brown eyes were open in shock from the coursing pain. It felt like plasma, lighting and tiny shock waves of volcanic lava shooting through every fiber of her being. How could it all go so wrong? Her temper lost once again. She walked, ran and cursed every fucking petaQ that had dared be an annoyance over the last months. The rage carried her into a storm of unknown magnitude, into a pool of unknown metals, and to a living death of extreme pain. Where was the peace before the end? Where was her warrior's death?

* * *

The former Borg drone, Seven of Nine Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01, was infuriated. Her separation from the Borg Collective still caused her many moments of distress. 3 months, 10 days, and 11 hours, amongst the crew of Voyager have led her to conclude that humanity was chaotic. Order, function, perfection were not things that humanity could accomplish in the chaos of their minds.

For instance, why was she sent on this mission? Was she being punished? The Chief Engineer was one of the most hostile people against her presence on Voyager. Yet, Seven of Nine did appreciate that the Lieutenant's comments were not whispered behind her back, and the Klingon/Human hybrid did not cower in fear of her presence. The volatile Lieutenant made her dislikes known without hesitation. Honesty and effectiveness were two things that Seven of Nine did appreciate about the illogical woman. Now, if she could only get her to be more efficient and less erratic, progress could really be made. Maybe, a partial assimilation would help the Lieutenant to mitigate her rage and bring her closer to perfection.

With all these thoughts, Seven continued her search as she moved closer to the area of the storm. She was searching slowly with her modified tricorder and heading towards the faint reading of a lifesign. It was not precise enough for her, but with the atmospheric disturbances, she could not get a lock on the Lieutenant's lifesign to beam her back to the excavation site. She had traversed 5 kilometers and had another 500 meters to go to reach the edge of the storm. How could the computer not be able to pinpoint the Lieutenant's last known position closer than this? Many updates needed to be made. This was unacceptable. In fact, Seven felt this trip was inefficient and unacceptable in many ways. These resources were needed. In addition, there were new metallic substances and crystalline minerals to be catalogued, tested and harvested. Why was a larger team not sent to scout this location and to help in the mining of resources? The possibility to improve Voyager's circumstances could be great, and yet, only two people sent. Her new Collective could benefit from Borg efficiency. The wayward engineer would comply. Resistance is futile.

As Seven entered the storm area, she thought more about the confusing humanity surrounding her on Voyager. Was this mission a test of some kind? Were they hoping that she fail? She refused to fail on her first away mission. More failure was not an option. She had already failed in her plans to return to the Borg Collective. Somehow, the small Ocampan female, Kes, had thrown Voyager 9,545 lightyears closer to the Alpha Quadrant and away from Borg space. Now, she was committed to being a success in her new Collective. She would adapt. She would add her biological and technological distinctiveness to Voyager to help in their success on their journey. The Chief Engineer was needed for the next phase of extracting the metals and minerals. Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres would be found.

Her eidetic memory replayed their conversation from earlier. The Lieutenant's behavior was illogical, and maybe, she could use the faults in logic to bring these unnecessary inefficiencies to an end.

The last part of their conversation flashed back from her cortical node. She needed more data. A review of the conversation could help.

* * *

 _"Damn it, Borg! What did I tell you yesterday and the day before that? We need to gather the rest of the data from the various probes to make sure mining is safe. Why won't you listen, drone? Do we have to have this argument every day?" B'Elanna was livid. This procedure was to ensure the safety of everyone involved. Yet, Seven of Nine refused to see it as necessary. Now, she realized that Seven had not totally disregarded the safety procedures before, because production was satisfactorily and they were on schedule. B'Elanna should have guessed the parameters had now changed._

 _"Unacceptable. We have been slowing our progress due to the interference with our equipment from the various atmospheric disturbances. Cutting out this inefficient process would increase productivity by 15.2%." As Seven spoke, she moved over to the mining equipment to bypass some of the safety measures and begin collecting samples. This was the last day of their 3 day mission, and she intended to be finish with survey as planned._

 _"Unacceptable! I tell you what is unacceptable! Your arrogance and stupidity in not realizing the danger in mining is fucking ridiculous! We have a shuttle full of dilithium crystals, duranium ore and some of the crystalline minerals found native on this planet for testing. Now, you want to skip steps to gain access to more minerals and these metals. What the fuck is your hurry? Voyager will be here in less than 24 hours." She wanted Seven of Nine to listen to her. Maybe, if she could curse her way through some logic, the drone would stop acting like this was the Borg Collective and lives and injuries were acceptable._

 _"Irrelevant. Our Voyager Collective expects these materials to be collected and tested. Then, the Voyager crew could possibly prepare for the use of these minerals and metals and further extraction to meet those uses. If our goals are not met, the crew would be delayed in this system. We shall not be the cause of such a delay. I can adjust the mining equipment simultaneously with the collection of data. The storm is spreading across this sector of the planet. In approximately 8 hours and 20 minutes, our equipment will not function. We need to clear this atmosphere as quickly as possible. Comply."_

 _As Seven spoke, she moved to take over the controls from the Lieutenant. She knew the conditions of the planet would create frustrating delays. Even with the removal and streamlining of several safety procedures, it was only 20.5% likely that they would finish gathering materials before the storm reached them. She would not fail, and the Lieutenant would cooperate to create a successful mission._

 _"Borg! Do not try it, petaQ. I'm in charge of this mission, and you need to follow orders." Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres was beyond angry at the frustrating, arrogant and know-it-all attitude of the Ice Princess. Seven stood before her with a cold, blank, empty, emotionless look in her blue eyes. Then, she turned and continued making adjustments to the scanners to begin the extraction of the remaining crystalline minerals._

 _B'Elanna fumed. "Fine! Skip safety procedures you fucking drone! I need a break. I will be back in 2 hours." Before Seven could utter a word in protest, B'Elanna stormed off in the opposite direction at a run._

 _The likelihood of success dropped to 15.5% with a 2 hour delay. Seven turned to the equipment and rerouted even more equipment to increase efficiency. She would use the 2 hours to produce as much as possible without the illogical woman. Then, the Lieutenant would recognize the logic in her suggestions._

* * *

Seven's attention moved back to the present as she used her implants and the modified tricorder to scan all around her. The tricorder was producing erratic readings. The lifesign ahead of her was fading in and out. The former Tertiary Adjunct to Unimatrix 01 had spent 2 hours and 20 minutes searching. She believed the Lieutenant to be in some sort of danger, because she was dedicated to the Voyager Collective. During the first 2 days on the planet, she had been highly productive when she was not screaming at her. The Chief Engineer was focused, efficient in her work and produced innovative and somewhat illogical solutions to some of the problems met on the volatile planet. When Seven was not frustrated with the delays, she realized she would like to study the engineer more closely. Her emotions were so close to the surface. She even found herself wanting to argue with her to just see the emotions come to her face. It was fascinating.

Seven had beamed to the Lieutenant's last known location according to the tracking device in her commbadge. With the constant and volatile atmospheric disturbances, the shuttle could not pinpoint the Lieutenant's exact location nor get a transporter lock. It felt inefficient to only use a commbadge as a locator. This was one more reason to rebuild the entire sensor section on Voyager and all shuttles. With some Borg enhancements and improvements in components and overall structure, she was sure that sensors would have been able to triangulate positions based on the Lieutenant's biosigns as well as the commbadge. This feature must be added. She would add it to the list of suggestions that she was planning on giving the Captain.

As Seven approached the lifesign, she had already traversed 10 kilometers with 4.5 of those kilometers in the storm. She could barely make out the face of the Lieutenant. The Chief Engineer was floating in some sort of glowing substance and most of her body was submerged. She seemed to be unresponsive.

"Lieutenant. Are you functioning within acceptable parameters?" Seven was hoping for a response. She did not like the idea of losing a member of her new Collective and being alone of this planet.

B'Elanna's eyes opened when she heard the voice. She had no idea how long she was in the substance. Her body was still in shock. As if floating from above herself, she heard her voice call out."Seven."

"Lieutenant. I am analyzing the substance now. Many of the elements within it are unrecognizable to the tricorder and the shuttle's scanners are malfunctioning due to the storms." Seven watched as the Chief Engineer lost consciousness again. She was worried. The engineer might be illogical, but she had highly desirable skillset that added to the Voyager Collective in unique ways. They would not be as effective without her. Seven was determined to prevent the death of the hybrid.

Nevertheless, Borg drones do not worry. Seven felt uncomfortable with this sensation. She filed away the emotion to study at a later time. She needed to act now. Drones could be replaced, but her new life was not abroad Borg vessels. The Chief Engineer was vital to the continued functioning of the Voyager Collective. Her decision made. Seven started to survey the area for any materials to pull the Lieutenant out of the substance. Logic prevented her from just reaching in with her Borg enhanced strength and hoping for the best. The readings from the tricorder noted high amounts of electric currents throughout the substance. Any direct contact would damage her systems. They both could not be incapacitated and stranded on this planet. Thankfully, she had packed all the equipment and moved the shuttle when the Lieutenant did not return after 2 ½ hours. She was uncertain how long it would take to locate the engineer, and she wanted to ensure the supplies, equipment and shuttle were a safe distance away from the growing storm.

As Seven was calculating the appropriate course of action, B'Elanna's eyes opened. She could barely make out the form of the former drone. She forced herself to speak. "Seven." B'Elanna's voice was weak, a mere whisper. It was only Seven's Borg enhanced hearing that allowed her to hear the Lieutenant.

"Yes, Lieutenant. I am searching for some way to remove you from the substance. I will need to move further away for resources."

"Transporter?" B'Elanna was still in considerable pain, but she wanted out as soon as possible. Her foggy mind was clearing despite the pain, and she knew that Seven's Borg systems could be severely damaged from the electricity surrounding her. She wanted to know other options.

"Unfortunately, Lieutenant, the shuttle could not locate your lifesign. The storm is interfering with the sensors. Further, the substance has merged with your body. It will make your biosign more difficult to detect. It is imperative that you are separated from the pool of metals. The shuttle will not be able to lock onto your lifesign otherwise." Seven was feeling worried again. She recognized the pain on the Lieutenant's face. She had closed her eyes again and starting convulsing. Then, she spoke.

"Move shuttle. Use rope and suit to protect implants. Need to ..." B'Elanna's voice faltered, and again, she was only able to whisper the last part. Seven did not want to leave her. Yet, wants were irrelevant. The Lieutenant was right. She would have a better chance with the shuttle, medical equipment and emergency gear nearby. Also, the storm clouds were clearing. However, she could not bring the shuttle closer until the storm cleared the current area to move to the area that they had previously been working.

Seven looked once more at the Lieutenant. She decided that she would clear a small area near the Lieutenant and press her own commbadge into the dirt to have a fix on her location. Then, at a fast run, she moved through the storm to get to the shuttle. She approximated that it would take her 2 hours and 48 minutes to get to the shuttle and back due to conditions. She should be able to land the shuttle within 50 meters of the Lieutenant. The timing was unavoidable. The storm was too powerful to ignore and count as irrelevant. She must use caution. Ending up in a substance like the Lieutenant would be certain death for her with mechanical components.

She leaned forward to try to tell the Chief Engineer of her plans, but she was unconscious again. At least, her lifesign was stable in the substance. Seven hoped that her approximations were wrong. She needed to get back to the woman faster. Quickly, with her tricorder, eidetic memory and optical implant, she guided herself back to shuttle.

* * *

B'Elanna opened her eyes 2 hours after Seven left for the shuttle. She felt a bit more rested despite being in the substance. Her gut told her that she had been hit by even more strikes while unconscious. In her mind, she tried to not concentrate on this fact. She hoped Seven had followed her whispered orders. Her strength was failing. Consciousness was fleeting.

This was supposed to be a simple resource gathering mission with their very irritating resident Borg. Voyager was low on dilithium, food stores and other supplies. The planet did not have much in terms of vegetation, but it had an abundance of dilithium. However, there were 2 M-Class moons orbiting the planet with vegetation. Voyager would be coming soon to study their results, refine the dilithium, and gather more supplies as needed from the moons and the planet. B'Elanna had even thought on suggesting a brief shore leave on the moons if everything checked out. They all needed a break. Especially, if she survived, she would need to recuperate from near dying once a-fucking-gain.

Seven of Nine and herself were sent ahead as Voyager studied some nebulas and a dying star on their flight path. The Captain wanted to get a jump on the analysis of the planet while the other scientists including the Captain got to study to interesting space phenomenon. B'Elanna had volunteered soon after the plan was made about 3 weeks ago. She had decided that a much needed break from the ship would be best.

However, there had been delays like usual in this infuriating Delta Quadrant. They had been attacked by a random group of small ships on 3 separate occasions. They didn't even get the name of their attackers. Unfortunately, the ships had been so unstable that during the battles, the ships were destroyed. It had been an unhappy outcome for the Captain and crew. They hated unnecessary lost of life. Why hadn't the ships responded to hails? These were questions that no one on board could answer, but the damage to the Voyager had been real. They had to drop out of warp for some of the repairs after each attack. The unknown aliens had targeted the deflector dish, weapons and warp core over and over again. The last attack had the deflector dish close to being destroyed before the ships exploded from Voyager's weapon fire. The attacks were organized, and she had a bad feeling that it was not the last attacks from this species. It had been a week since the last attack when the Captain decided to go ahead with the original plans.

During this time, the Captain and First Officer had assigned Seven of Nine to Engineering with increasing regularity. She felt annoyed and irritated so many times that she lost count. As she threw spanners, hit equipment and yelled a full range of profanities, the cool Ice Princess would just stare through her as if she was insignificant. It made her even madder. How dare this drone come to her territory and strut around as if she owned the place? No one took over her engine room. Yet, her complaints were falling on deaf ears. The Captain said that repairs could be used as a time for some small upgrades to be made as well. Seven of Nine's expertise was needed and B'Elanna would have to get used to working with the Borg. This made her rage even more. She had needed to go to the holodeck for a few hours to unleash her rage in one of her Klingon fighting programs.

Now, with excruciating pain rippling through her body, her mind flashed back to the injustice of being forced to even help the bitch of a drone make a small prototype portable regeneration unit for the mission. She had repairs to do, but the First Officer had insisted on it for safety. They had worked on it on and off for two weeks between repairs and small upgrades. What had she done to deserve this shit? Also, why did Seven have to smell so good? Fuck. Where was that fucking thought originating? She must really be getting delusional. How long has she been in this Gre'thor of a substance anyways?

As B'Elanna processed her last question, she was hit by another strike and fell unconscious once again.

* * *

Seven had reached the shuttle in the anticipated time. The storm had dissipated from the Lieutenant's location, and she had landed with precision to be as close to the Lieutenant as possible. As she approached, she noticed the Lieutenant was still unconscious and her pulse was weakening. She held a medical tricorder out to get a better reading when the Chief Engineer started convulsing over and over again. Then, as in a nightmare, the illogical woman ceased to function. The medical tricorder gave several urgent alerts. The Lieutenant's breathing stopped, and Seven hesitated. Death. How could she have failed her new Collective?


	3. Chapter II: Memories and Pagh

Disclaimer: Please read Prologue for full disclaimer.

Chapter II: Memories and Pagh

"Weak!" A shadow shouts. Another shadow descends and another till the words fade in a jumbled mass of confusion. "Weakling!" A different shadow emphasizes with a punch. "How dare you defy us?" The four shadows turn in unison and stare at the face of a witness to their depravity. Silence, shock, panic form within her as she hears. "Look at her, look at your child! Now, she knows that she is a part of a weak species! You. Are. Nothing." The heartbeats in the room become one less. Shadows laugh. They dance. His witness tries to scream, but her voice does not come. Hands wrapped around the small throat squeeze. Shadows leap. The hands tighten. The eyes of the witness shed silent tears and look down to realize the hands are theirs. The primal scream is finally realized from the agonized cave of internal suffering. "Noooo! Father!"

Beat. Beat. Beat. Brown eyes open and blink to try to clear the memories of the pain. The ears search for the familiar rhythms of their wife's heart. She hoped her scream was only in her nightmare. Then, she hears her wife's breathing change, and she knows that her hopes were not answered."Vunek! Laren! Please wake up." Her wife's smoky voice smoothes the familiar aches forming in her heart. Beautiful, loving hands gently caress her face and remove the tears of the 7 year old watching her father's torture. As tears flow and her mind clears, the dynamic rebel, Commander Ro Laren, snuggles deeper against her wife's heart.

"Vunek." Kathryn tries to get her wife to talk. This was the third nightmare this week, and yet, Laren was refusing to discuss them. She decided to try her command voice, because her wife voice was getting her nowhere.

"Ro Laren! I love you, damn it! Answer me, stubborn woman!" Captain Kathryn Janeway calmed her tone back to a respectable Force 3 Glare and shifted to look her stunningly beautiful and deeply scarred wife in the face. She lifts her chin and grey-blue eyes meet brown. They each smirk at one another until Kathryn yields command to return to being a concerned wife. "I love you, Vunek. You will always be my piece of heaven amongst the stars. Remember this when you want to shut me out."

"I will remember." Laren replies at a whisper. She still is thinking of her nightmare. How can something from so long ago still creep up and wrack havoc on her life? Will the pain ever completely leave? Why now? Then, her brain remembers. Her best friend, Chief Engineer of Voyager, Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, is in a coma. That stubborn ass of a Klingon managed to get herself critically injured. She might lose her sister. The sister born of sweat, blood, torn muscles, fire fights and drunken nights might simply cease breathing again. Tears began anew as she struggled to control her rapidly growing anger as she thought of the situation. How dare the fool get critically hurt? She didn't have the right. She knew that family was a hard choice to have for a rebel.

"Laren, would you like some kava juice?" Kathryn moved to leave the bed and felt the trembling arms of her wife squeeze her closer. "We are talking tonight, and I am leaving this bed." She leaned down and softly kissed her wife of her lushly and intricately formed lips. She felt her wife deepen the kiss. "No, tonight we talk. You have been able to distract me one too many times with those lips and your body."

Ro couldn't believe her Kathryn. She needed the calming effect and peace of their lovemaking. Her wife was being unreasonable. "Kathryn, darling, we can talk later. Please, I need you. I…" As Kathryn leaned forward to kiss her again, Laren almost believed she had won this round. Then, she felt her wife pull back again.

"I need you too. I want to make love, and we will. Right now, this talk is more important. So, my beautiful, stubborn rebel, my Vunek, my wonderful lady from Bajoran heaven, kava juice?"

Laren sighed. Her wife could be so annoying at times. With her smoky tones and husky sweetness, she knew how to make even kava juice sound sexy. She would talk to her stubborn wife. It was time to release the power of her fears. If Lanna died, she needed to be prepared. This conversation would be the first of many.

* * *

Commander Ro Laren stretched as her wife leaned into her on the ready room couch. Their conversation went well last night, and it felt good to spend their lunch break in each other's arms. It still was difficult sometimes for the former Starfleet Lieutenant turned Maquis Rebel. She had wanted to belong for so long. She had thought that the Enterprise-D was that home for awhile. Then, Macias had seen something in her that she had never felt before. Belonging. The old warrior made her see that some clauses were worth dying. The next generation should not have to watch their loved ones tortured at the hands of hateful Cardassians.

Fighting meant healing from the destruction brought upon the Bajorans and others. To live was to defy. The nightmares would not win. She was loved. Macias taught her a new meaning for family. B'Elanna engulfed her with her fiery temperament and brilliance to discover a little sister's devotion and love. Then, Captain Kathryn Janeway had gone farther. Kathryn made her see love in the bleakness of despair. Being thrown some 70,000 lightyears from her home, the fight, and her peace among the Maquis resistance should have meant defeat. Her Kathryn refused to even consider it. Fighting without Kathryn's love was no longer an option. Their courting, marriage and combined command presence had bought Voyager through a lot.

Right now, Ro was having moments of doubt. Lanna had been in a coma for 10 days. Seven had saved her on the planet, but her body was deteriorating. In fact, the Doctor was not sure if she would make it through the next few hours. She felt her wife shift and looked down on the cherished face of her love.

"You can go to sickbay if it would help. I know you are worried." Captain Kathryn Janeway pulled her wife into focusing on her with her grey-blue eyes and continued to speak soothingly. "For your benefit and stubbornness, I will repeat my mantra from last night. You were right to send them, and I agreed. B'Elanna would have gotten worse without intervention. The hostility would have been detrimental to their working relationship, and Seven's move towards humanity would have slowed with the negative influence from the Chief on the crew. You know how many people love and respect B'Elanna. Her influence needed to be positive or neutral."

"I know that you're right. It is still frightening how close she came to death, and she still might die. It is all up in the air, and I feel lost here. May the Prophets and Kahless be with her, because I feel like kicking her ass when she wakes. She ran off half-cocked without even bothering to check storm conditions. Then, she gets stuck in some fucking pool of liquefied metals and other unheard of substances. What the fuck? Will she ever learn?" Laren was livid. She loved B'Elanna fiercely. They had been through a lot together. She was the little sister, who was brilliant, funny, crazy and wild to have around. It didn't hurt that they had escaped a few close calls with death to know they had each other's back no matter what. B'Elanna had to survive this stupid, storm infested planet's wrath. She had to make it. The warrior could not die this way.

"You are making yourself more upset. Go to Sickbay. That's an order wife. Dismissed." Kathryn smirked at her wife, kissed her thoroughly, hugged her tightly, and moved to return to the bridge. The Captain's mask fell in place as she straightened her jacket. At the door, she bent down to remove imaginary dust off her shoes. Her derriere swayed seductively. Then, she rose slowly and turned with a wink at her wife.

Ro smiled fully and started laughing. "You're a horrible tease, you know. You will pay for that later."

Kathryn laughed and blew a kiss. "I plan to pay for several hours tonight! Now, my Vunek, take your beautiful self to see your sister. I will go see her later today. Also, check on Seven if she is there. I know that she has spent several hours a day in sickbay over the past 10 days. I want her to know that we thank her for helping Lanna despite Lanna's attitude towards her. I think all this has been a lot for her. It would be great for you to offer her support. Maybe, you could tell her some embarrassing stories about Lanna. It could get you to laugh and remember her as the wild, untamed spirit that brings joy to our lives and others. The stories would hopefully have the added benefit of exposing Seven to a more positive image of B'Elanna. I think that they could be good friends if Lanna gives Seven a chance. Plus, I know how you love a challenge. Seven needs to know that we see her as a part of this community and her efforts on the planet were above and beyond the call of duty. I will tell her later about her commendation. What do you think?"

"I think that you are wonderful and brilliant. I will talk to Seven even if I have to track her down. The embarrassing stories would be interesting to explain to Seven. Plus, it would give me another way of thinking about Lanna for awhile and still honor my need to dwell on my sister. Thank you."

"What are you thanking me for?" Kathryn knew, but she also knew that Laren wanted and needed to say the words.

"I thank you for being an amazing wife, a great friend, and a person who continues to bring joy into my life when I only see despair. I love you. Now, go. I might be tempted to drag you back to the couch for more quality time." Ro watched as her wife turned to leave her ready room for the bridge. Then, she left quietly through the side door to take the turbolift directly to deck 5 and the sickbay. She would face the sorrowful looks on the bridge soon enough. It was time to visit her sister.


End file.
